Remnants
by Myriad of Pixels
Summary: Creepers have overrun Minecraftia, obliterating villages, destroying and defiling natural resources, and ending countless lives. The few Users still left alive are divided, fighting and killing each other in order to survive in this harsh new world. It seems to be the end of the age of the Users, but there are still some who will not give up hope.
1. Prologue

**Hey, everyone! I've finally decided to start another story on here, and I hope you enjoy it! It's an apocalypse story with a twist, and hopefully a refreshing and unexpected one. Honestly, it was inspired by a mod -well, this whole thing was inspired by several mods, actually. **

**The prologue might be a bit confusing, as I'm messing around with a 3rd POV and then an 'inner monologue' type thing from Seth. Hopefully I didn't screw it up.  
**

**Well, hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

Ash and cinders swirled in the dark night sky, the smells of fire and thick smoke in the air were almost suffocating. A small town was up in flames, charred skeletons of houses and the burned corpses of Users littered the once-lush landscape around it, the grasses charred to an ugly brown and the trees all set ablaze. Some surviving Users were trying to escape the blazing labyrinth of homes, fighting off the mob most feared by all. Hisses, explosions, yells of defiance, and cries of pain indicated that the massacre was not over, and the once picturesque landscape was horribly marred by flames and craters.

A young boy was lost amongst the maze, stumbling about the destroyed cobblestone streets with a dazed and scared look in his dark grey eyes. He looked around at his surroundings constantly, clearly on the verge of crying. His forest green shirt was covered in soot and drenched in perspiration as he ran as fast as he could, trying his best to escape the flaming death trap that had once been the safest place he'd known.

"Mother? Father? Helena?" He called desperately, as if they would appear out of thin air at his command.

Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. The boy continued to run, turning at a corner and then dashing down another street, hoping to find his way out.

After a few more turns, he saw it. An exit. The night sky was just barely visible from where he was standing at the opening, and, through his eyes, they looked cold and dead, hanging motionless in the sky like paper cutouts. He stumbled towards the breach in the smouldering city wall, beginning to feel lightheaded because of all of the smoke.

Unfortunately, it was then that a very soft _tsss... _sounded behind him.

"Creeper!" He shrieked, throwing himself out of the way before it exploded. He slammed into the ground with an "Oof...", rolling away from the blast and getting to his feet to see the huge crater the creeper had left when he had been standing seconds before.

But that wasn't the only one around. The boy, now alert and facing the right direction, saw two more creepers standing casually at that side of the road. There was no possible way that he could outrun them, and he had no weapon with which to fight them. Outrunning them was his only real chance at survival.

He started to run towards the egress, trying his best to ignore the galloping sound behind him that was getting closer with every step. Just as he was about three yards from freedom, he tripped.

The hissing got louder and louder, and the boy knew he was pretty much done for when one of the hisses stopped abruptly. Looking up in surprise, he saw one of the creepers had been impaled with a diamond sword through the chest, and was now leaning against the wall with it's head lolling at an unnatural angle, and blackish-colored liquid that seeped from the wound was beginning to stain the sword. The other creeper had stopped hissing as well, and looked around, as if outraged, to try and spot the killer of its comrade. The boy looked around as well, and his eyes fell on a figure standing in the opening of the wall, his silhouette made dark by the brightness of the flames around him. He raised a sword identical to the one that had impaled the other creeper as he shouted, "Over here, you exploding green turd!"

It wasn't a very heroic-sounding challenge, but it did the trick. The creeper let out an indignant tss! and started to gallop towards the stranger, and the boy could barely make out the person's overconfident smirk as he charged towards the creeper. When the creeper was within slashing distance, the person made a move to behead it, but, before the blade could lop off the creeper's head, it exploded, sending him flying into a wall. He collapsed on the ground, letting out a pained groan, and lay there for a few moments before rolling over with a groan, one of his hands pressed against his right eye. The young boy ran over to him, asking him in a concerned tone, "Are you okay?"

It was then he saw his rescuer in greater detail, the mysterious stranger turning out to be a young man with deeply tanned skin and dark brown, unkempt hair who was dressed as if he lived out in the wild. Said stranger suddenly let out a string of curses, still pressing his palm against his right eye. The young boy flinched, not used to hearing that kind of language used so freely, but still waited for an answer.

"Never been better," came the sarcastic reply, the replying voice surprisingly deep and foreign-sounding.

There was a short pause before he spoke again, asking, "What's your name, kid?"

"Seth. Seth Fitzpatrick. Who are you?"

"Weylin Knight."

Another awkward silence, only interrupted by the sounds of crashing timber and crackling flames.

"We need to get out of here." Weylin announced, starting back towards the now considerably widened breach in the wall.

"But my parents and my sister!…" Seth trailed off, looking like he was about to cry.

"They're dead. You'd share the same fate if I hadn't happened to stumble across this town. We need to leave." Weylin grabbed Seth's wrist and started leading him towards the breach.

Seth glanced back, back at the blaze that was once his home, feeling hatred and sorrow build up in his heart. He wasn't going to forget this. Not then, not ever.

XxXxXxX

There are few of us left, even fewer than there were the night I lost everything I ever knew.

We fight each other to survive, and live in fear of those that creep and those that hiss, getting through each day only through a will of steel.

Ores mean nothing to us anymore; we now steal and fight over potatoes, bread, apples . Things that we once shared without a second thought with one another we now kill each other for.

We have become our own biggest enemy, traveling in packs and killing others off like savages.

I heard that the habitable parts of the Aether were attacked as well as the Overworld, and that most of the islands there were destroyed. No one knows what happened to those living there, and no one really seems to care. We're all too busy trying to survive.

Surviving seems to be the only objective for Users left. There is no way that we can restore our world to it's old balance, and there is nothing but death waiting for us in the end, yet we keep on struggling.

Why? I'm not sure.

Maybe we keep struggling on because we want to protect friends and family.

Maybe it's because we want some amount of revenge against the creeper race before we're inevitably condemned to the dirt.

Or maybe it's because some of us still dream, dreaming of impossible things and fighting through each day to try and see them through.

Yeah, maybe that's it.

Some of us have hope left in our hearts. I, for one, am one of those few.

After all, we are the remnants of our once prosperous land. We've survived for this long; we won't be put down so easily.

* * *

**I'd say that this basically sets the tone for this story, though I'm going to attempt to make it a bit more light-hearted than Glitched is.  
****Also, I only have a temporary cover for this, but there's no way to design a good cover this early in the story.  
Well. If you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review, and feel free to ask me any questions!  
See you all next chapter, guys!  
-Myr**


	2. Chapter 1: The Unusual Settlement

**Hey everyone! I'm finally updating, so sorry for the wait! And wow, six reviews already? Thank you all for your support; I greatly appreciate it!  
**

**I hope I did well with this chapter, and I apologize if it moves a bit fast. It's kind of the style I'm attempting to write in, but if I'm screwing up in any areas, please let me ****know.**

**Oh, and sorry for the lame chapter name. Couldn't come up with anything else at the moment...**

**Well, enough of that. Here's Chapter 1!**

* * *

The harsh sun beat down on the desert sands, bleaching the grains white with its glaring rays and fierce heat, causing the air in the biome to steam and waver, making a perfect hell-on-earth for the unwary traveler that might have the misfortune to pass through. Several cacti dotted the otherwise quite barren landscape, varying in shapes and stature. Some were tall and lean, twisted and spiky as could be expected, while others were rotund and plump, sporting bright blossoms on their tops and fuzzy-looking prickles rather than wicked-looking thorns. The land was void of any other thing in it save the occasional tumbleweed or, on a rare occasion, a small spring of water.

I swiped my forearm against my brow, trying to get the sweat out of my eyes as I trudged onwards with the little group I now called family. I was not well adjusted to this unforgiving climate, and I was pretty sure I would never be. At the moment, I was quite glad that I was wearing such light clothing.

"Another lovely day out in the desert," I turned quickly as Caelum spoke, his words sarcastic, "I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be. Are you sure that map is right, Weylin?" His eyes were narrowed in order to keep himself from going blind, as were mine. Most of us weren't used to this insane heat, but our leader seemed to be faring well enough.

"I know this place well enough, even without the map. We'll probably reach the spawner soon, at the speed we've been traveling. Besides, I thought you said you'd gotten used to this climate," Weylin responded teasingly, his dark brown eyes sparkling with amusement.

"I said, and I quote, 'As used to it as I'll ever get'. That's not the same as being comfortable in this Notchforsaken biome," Caelum responded vehemently.

"I'll second that," I agreed, adding, "If we stay here for too much longer, we'll all probably be piles of ash smouldering in the sand."

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad, you two," Annalise laughed, but it was clear that she was uncomfortable in this climate as well. She had her hair tied back, and her discomfort shone in her ice-colored eyes. I realized that I was staring, and looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Yes it is," Caelum argued bluntly, "You can't possibly tell me you're comfortable with this heat."

"It's bearable."

"You're crazy, woman."

"You're one to talk, 'Aether boy'."

"Will you two shut up? _Javiknel_, as if it's not bad enough to have to walk in the desert, I have to hear you two argue the whole time too?" Calyn snapped at last, looking the worst off of all of us. Her usually pale skin was turning a bright shade of red, clear signs of sunburn, and she looked exhausted.

Her words finally shut everyone up, and we traveled silently for awhile. Finally, Calyn herself broke the silence, her accent growing heavier as it was clear she was tiring further. "How much farther ha' we got to go 'afore we reach this thing, Weylin?"

"Actually, we're practically there. See that thing there, in the distance?" The Southerner pointed at something ahead of us, and I could just barely make out the outline of a ruined town.

"People actually lived out here?" Annalise exclaimed, spotting the thing as well.

"Evidently," Caelum mused, "Probably just a bandit's fortress or retreat, though."

We picked up the pace, eager to reach the ruined place and get out of this desolate nothingness. As we approached, I realized that this was not a bandit's retreat, or anything of that nature. There were no imposing walls or decor suggestive of boorish inhabitants; it was just a simple little place with medium sized houses and a once-great meeting hall in the center.

"That's odd… To the best of my knowledge, there were no regular civilians living out here…" Weylin looked perplexed.

"Same goes for the rest of us," Caelum pointed out, but the look on Weylin's face did not disappear.

"We can explore here later. The biggest issue for us now is getting rid of that spawner." Weylin said at last, tearing his gaze from the town, "It should be near here… And supposedly these are one of the mutated breeds."

"Uh… I think that's one of them…" Annalise announced suddenly.

We all turned to see what she was looking at, and Caelum announced in disgust, "Holy aersheep, that's just wrong."

It indeed was disgusting-looking. It was three blocks tall and one block wide, with pale green-blue skin and three eyes. It seemed to be wearing a crown made of intercrossed horns, horns that were growing out of its own head. It had long, knife-like claws on its forefeet that glistened like metal, and it also seemed to either have excellent sight or hearing, because it was already trotting towards us. It was then we noticed that there were more of its brethren standing around, almost looking as if they were guarding something.

"Well, seems we're pretty close to the spawner…" Weylin said, watching the thing as it approached, "You all know what to do. Regular plan. Annalise, your job to take the spawner down. You've got a pickaxe, right?" Annalise nodded in affirmation. "The rest of you know your jobs. Let's move out."

Almost in sync, we all drew our weapons. Caelum unslung his bow quickly, and Calyn unsheathed her pair of emerald throwing axes, looking less and less tired by the second. Annalise withdrew her iron pickaxe, looking slightly apprehensive as I snatched up my ruby scythe, ready for whatever came. His twin blades long since unsheathed, Weylin had already gone ahead, dispatching the creeper with a few quick, neat slices, leaving it's now lifeless body to topple into the dirt. We hurried to catch up with him, springing into action as soon as we reached the other mutt creepers.

I took down the nearest creeper by me with a quick slice, beheading it before it even started to hiss, and my comrades followed suit, hacking and slashing, and, in Caelum's case, peppering them with arrows. This group was easily put down, but we knew that more would come to take their place if we didn't locate and destroy the spawner.

"They're coming from over there. I can smell the _javik mehræn_…" Calyn stated vehemently, her eyes shining with battle lust and eagerness. She was somewhat terrifying when she fought, but could find spawners seemingly just by instinct in such situations, which was an invaluable skill, to say the least.

She started off towards wherever she sensed the spawner to be, and we followed her closely, eager to get this over with. Oddly enough, when we reached it, the first thing I noticed was the spawner was actually _outside_, instead of being in a cave or somewhere dark and sheltered, like a typical spawner was.

"Well, that's odd…" Caelum mused, but we had no time to think over that as the spawner suddenly let out a bright flash of light, somehow spawning twenty or so creepers in that one second.

"We've got to get the spawner down. Annalise, go; we'll draw them away. Break the spawner before any more get out." Weylin ordered, turning to face the small horde - or was it herd?- of mutts**.**

Calyn practically leapt into their midst, slashing them to pieces while yelling things in the Northern Dialect that even I was somewhat shocked to hear, most of them aimed at the creepers. Annalise started to sneak around the mobs, doing her best to pass unnoticed on her way to the spawner. I didn't really pay attention to much more after that, as I was doing my best to keep the creepers off of me. I took down about three or so when I heard a surprised shout. Somehow, Caelum had been cornered by creepers, standing with his back against a rather large rock in the terrain. How he got in that position, I didn't even want to know. Not even thinking about the potential consequences for myself, I charged at the mutts, yelling loudly to try and intimidate them. The mobs turned in surprise as I cleaved the one nearest to me in half, the hiss dying instantly as it fell to the earth. Getting over his own surprise, Caelum jumped into action himself, quickly nocking arrows to his bow and accurately shooting out the mobs I didn't dispatch.

When the last one fell, Caelum turned to me with a grateful look on his face, "Thanks, man. Of course, I could've taken them myself, but the help was appreciated."

I just shook my head amusedly at his somewhat arrogant statement and moved on, noticing that the number of these mutated creepers had declined considerably. Weylin and Calyn were finishing off the rest of the horde, and it was clear that Annalise had considerably weakened the iron cage spawning these beasts. She lifted her iron pick over her head once more, and slammed it down as hard as she could against the spawner, finally causing it to crack and splinter into bits. I found myself letting out a sigh of relief, and remarked, "That went better than last time, don't you guys think?"

"Hah, that's for sure." Caelum laughed, sounding slightly embarrassed.

"Come to think of it, you're typically the one that gets into these ridiculous situations we keep having with mobs. Why is that?" I asked, smirking as he turned a deeper shade of red.

"He can answer that later, if he chooses to. We should get to exploring that village," Weylin interrupted, an odd look on his face. He seemed oddly fixated on finding out who - or what - used to live there, which I found more than a little strange. He never cared so much about these things when we were in the Northern Kingdom.

"What is in there, anyway? If you say it's so irregular to find settlements out here, then there's probably some insane loot there, if it's still intact…" Calyn reasoned, clearly eager to go explore.

We started back towards the village, most of us more relaxed than we probably should've been. Weylin looked as alert as ever, his good eye scanning the sands as if he expected a bandit troupe to charge out of nowhere.

It was clear as soon as we reached the settlement that it was anything but normal. Even though all the buildings were made from sandstone and other natural materials, it was clear that the people that had once lived here were incredibly skilled crafters, the detail and make were almost unnaturally perfect-looking and pleasing to the eye. The buildings were only one or two stories, but were all incredibly long, and there were three incredibly large buildings in the center, made from marble and some other material I couldn't identify. However, the one in the center was horribly damaged by explosions, and it was clear we wouldn't be venturing in there.

"Holystone? What's it doing here, of all places?" Caelum was staring at the buildings, but everyone else was too busy gawking at the sight to even try to answer him.

"What the Nether is this place?" Annalise exclaimed, looking around in wonder, "This can't be some simple settlement, can it?"

"It's clearly not," Weylin agreed, "We'd best stick together when we go through here, for safety's sake."

"Are you kiddin' me? This place looks safe as it can get, out in these parts," Calyn shook her head, unconvinced, but uttered no further protests.

"Larger buildings first?" Caelum asked, looking to Weylin for affirmation.

Weylin nodded, still looking slightly uneasy. As the others went ahead, eager to loot this place, I fell into step beside my good friend, asking him quietly, "Why are you so nervous about this place? It's odd, but there's nothing dangerous about it. No heads on sticks or blood spattered around the entrances."

I was trying to be humorous, but Weylin didn't take it that way. "You don't joke about those things, Seth. I've actually seen such brutality before…" His eyes dulled as he seemed to be reliving bad memories.

"...I'm sorry. I- Well, I didn't think that actually… uh…" I stumbled over my words, immediately feeling bad.

"You wouldn't have any way of knowing; it's fine.

But answering your question, sometimes the most unassuming places can be the most dangerous. And though this place is peaceful looking enough, everything about it isn't natural."

"You're certainly right about that…" I trailed off, deciding not to say anymore as we entered through the double doors of the first building.

The second I entered I knew this place wasn't normal, not in the slightest. It was a meeting hall of sorts, but unlike any I'd ever seen before. There was a soft, warm light cast by some sort of fixtures on the wall not made of any material I'd ever known of, and the floor was made out of flawless quartz blocks that clearly went several layers down. Looking around, we seemed to be in some sort of meeting hall, and the decorum inside it was strangely intact. There were several well-made and comfortable chairs placed in rows in front of a stand, and behind that there were two doors, one of which the others were in the process of breaking open. As they wrenched the door open, I heard one of them exclaim, "Guys, you have to see this!"

As soon as we reached the others, I barely kept my mouth from falling open. There were several sets of double chests lined up against the walls of the room, and guessing from the ones whose lids had been forced up by Caelum, they were all full of food.

"This can sustain us for… well, for ages!" Annalise said in wonder, opening some of the chests herself, "And… is… is that _cake_?"

While the others were wrapped up in the euphoria of their discovery, I noticed Weylin didn't share their excitement. "Don't eat anything," he ordered suddenly, his eyes narrowing as his gaze swept over the food.

"Why not?" Calyn asked, sounding disappointed and a little angry as she turned to face him.

"Doesn't this whole thing look way too convenient? Food, all lined up and kept perfectly preserved in pantries?" The Southerner strode over to a chest that contained quite a few loaves of bread and picked one up gingerly, inspecting it critically before letting out a noise of displeasure. "Just what I thought. It's all poisoned."

"What?"

"Poisoned?"

"Who would even be able to do that here? The inhabitants are all dead or gone, aren't they?" The confused and somewhat worried comments of the others echoed my own thoughts.

"I know poison when I see it - and smell it. This was most likely some sort of defense mechanism, which is exactly why I was wary of coming here in the first place. The fact that this place looked so peaceful, yet so strange immediately put me on guard, and this has confirmed my suspicions. Those who once lived here were not typical Users, and, clearly, they haven't all left - they're all probably in hiding -, considering how fresh this food is. It was placed here only a few days ago, to say the least. Who knows what other traps this person - or group of people - has planned to defend themselves? We should get out of here, and do so as soon as possible."

While he had been speaking, I noticed that there was an unusual sound coming from outside, and I had walked over to one of the windows of the building to try and see what it was. What met my eyes was one of the last things I wanted to see, especially at this time. "Hate to break it to you all, but we're stuck here, at least for now. Unless you all want to go out into a sandstorm."

"Seems our luck keeps getting better and better," Weylin remarked sarcastically, looking slightly stressed out, "We'd best be on our guard, and hope that there aren't any more traps around here."

Not seeming to hear either of them, Caelum had wandered over to the other door, musing aloud, "What's behind this one?"

Just as he began to turn the doorknob, I noticed what he was doing and called out, "Don't do that-!"

But he had already opened the door.

"Gah!"

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**A/N: Ehehehe… I've been in a cliffhanger-writing mood for quite a while. **

**Agh, I don't feel satisfied with the ending, I'll probably go back and edit it later… Hope you guys enjoyed this, and please do let me know what you thought of the chapter!**

**Also, sorry if my writing quality gets sloppier towards the end, I'm feeling pretty bad right now as I got food poisoning for the second time in two to three weeks, and I'm having trouble being as descriptive as I'd like to be right now...  
**

**Well, see you all next chapter!  
**


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